Tracking Changes in SARS-CoV-2 Spike: Evidence that D614G Increases Infectivity of the COVID-19 Virus

Abstract

Korber et al. present evidence that there are now more SARS-CoV-2 viruses circulating in the human population globally that have the G614 form of the Spike protein versus the D614 form that was originally identified from the first human cases in Wuhan, China. Follow-up studies show that patients infected with G614 shed more viral nucleic acid compared with those with D614, and G614-bearing viruses show significantly higher infectious titers in vitro than their D614 counterparts.